NEWS

News Aug-17-2018

Lindenwood Lions Debut in Inaugural Major League Rugby Season

Major League Rugby (MLR) played its inaugural season during the summer of 2018 and six former Lions were part of team rosters including Mickey Bateman, Tadgh Leader, Gabriel Romero, Matthew Wirken, Michael Baska, and Sebastian Kalm.

The seven original MLR squads included the Austin (Texas) Elite, Glendale (Colo.) Raptors, Houston (Texas) SaberCats, New Orleans (La.) Gold, San Diego (Calif.) Legion, Seattle (Wash.) Seawolves, and Utah Warriors. After the 10 week regular season that concluded June 23, Seattle defeated San Diego and Glendale defeated Utah in the semifinals. The Seawolves stopped the Raptors 23-19 to claim the first ever MLR title July 7 at Torero Stadium in San Diego.

Bateman played for the Raptors, Leader for the Legion, Romero for the SaberCats, and Wirken, Baska, and Kalm for the Gold.The league plans to expand to Los Angeles, Washington D.C., New York, and Ontario, Canada for the 2019 season.

Romero and Bateman were asked several questions about their experiences.